To no one’s surprise, Nelson Cruz decided to decline the Texas Rangers’ $14.1 million qualifying and instead will look for a multi-year deal on the free-agent market. There are fans who will want him back, and there are fans who will wish him well and want to move on to someone else. If the Rangers bring Nelson Cruz back, it won’t be to play right or left field, it will be as a full-time designated hitter. He’ll find a three-year deal from someone, it just won’t be the Texas Rangers.

Geovany Soto was re-signed to a one-year, $3.05 million deal by the Rangers to be the starting catcher in 2014, at least according to manager Ron Washington and general manager Jon Daniels. Do you believe that? Because I certainly don’t. There are other options available out there, like Kurt Suzuki, who are better options as the backstop than Soto.

Brian McCann is apparently still on the Rangers radar but who knows for how long. I can see Daniels going upwards of $80-$85 million but not much further. He won’t get close to the $100 million mark for more reasons than McCann’s really not worth that much. However, the point has been made that McCann can be brought in to not only play 60-70 games behind the plate, but also can play the other 70-80 games at first base and at DH. Makes sense, but the money still has to be right.

Now, on to the rumor mill.

Over the last few days, we’ve started getting wind that the Rangers are listening to offers on one of their middle infielders, namely Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler and the young Jurickson Profar. In return for who, you might ask? There’s been talk about a possible deal with the St. Louis Cardinals in return for Shelby Miller or Oscar Taveras but there’s also been talk about it being to the Tampa Bay Rays for one David Price.

Speaking of David Price, is he worth trading Andrus or Profar for? In my opinion, there’s no question about it. You won’t find one person who will argue that David Price makes this team better than it was in 2013. They will argue whether or not it’s worth dealing for him, but they can’t tell you he doesn’t make this team better. So, with that in mind, why would you not want to make this team an absolute powerhouse in the American League for at least the next two seasons? A rotation of Yu Darvish, David Price, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Martin Perez? Where do I sign?

Todd Kaufmann is a freelance writer who, since moving to Texas in 2008, has covered everything from minor league baseball, the PGA Tour, college football, to the Texas Rangers themselves. He and his wife currently reside near Mansfield, Texas with their yellow lab ironically named...Ranger. You can follow him on Twitter @T_Kaufmann as well as on Facebook